A Modern Panarion (c. 1895) - H.P. Blavatsky

A Modern Panarion: A Collection of Fugitive Fragments (1895)

H. P. Blavatsky · First edition, Volume I · Theosophical Publishing Society, 1895

Spirit apparitions, ancient mysteries, occult symbols, hypnotism and the hidden traditions of East and West: an extraordinary collection from one of the nineteenth century's most influential esoteric writers.

First published in 1895, four years after Helena Petrovna Blavatsky's death, A Modern Panarion gathers her scattered articles, letters, arguments and investigations from the formative decades of modern Theosophy. Issued as the first volume of the H. P. B. Memorial Fund Series, it preserves the fierce, questioning and often controversial voice of a writer who helped reshape Western interest in Eastern philosophy, spiritualism and the occult.

The editors borrowed the title from the fourth-century theologian Epiphanius, whose Panarion was likened to a medicine chest of remedies against heresy. Blavatsky's collection reverses that purpose, challenging religious dogmatism, materialism and the scientific orthodoxies of her own age.

Explore the contents

• Victorian séances and spirit manifestations: accounts of the Eddy family mediums, disputed apparitions, alleged materialisations and spirited exchanges with sceptics. In one account Blavatsky claims to have seen 119 apparitions during a fourteen-day visit.
• Magic and occultism: essays including Occultism or Magic, The Science of Magic, What is Occultism? and Trickery or Magic? explore how she distinguished esoteric practice from fraud and stage illusion.
• Symbols and sacred traditions: discussions of Kabbalistic ideas, the five- and six-pointed stars, the cross, fire symbolism and the mysterious Count Saint-Germain.
• India and Eastern philosophy: writings on Indian metaphysics, yoga, Buddhism, Hindu spiritual traditions, the Vedas and reincarnation in Tibet.
• Dreams and altered consciousness: investigations of hypnotism, somnambulism, visions and the possibility of consciousness beyond ordinary waking experience.
• The birth of Theosophy: arguments over the movement's aims, critics, beliefs and its proposed relationship between Eastern and Western thought.

Rather than one continuous treatise, this is a rich anthology of short and long pieces, including material originally written in the 1870s and 1880s. Its changing subjects and sharp polemical style make it especially valuable for readers interested in the cultural history of Victorian occultism.

About this digital edition

This 522-page scanned PDF facsimile reproduces the 1895 first edition, including its original blue-and-gold binding, title page, editors' preface, memorial fund notice and period typography. The original book contains 504 numbered pages of main text; the PDF also includes preliminary and binding pages.

Historical reading note: Accounts of supernatural manifestations, hidden powers, ancient origins and esoteric teachings reflect the author's beliefs and arguments, not independently established scientific or historical facts. Some passages contain nineteenth-century cultural assumptions and terminology. Offered as a primary source for historical study.

Hearthwise Historical Library · Digital historical facsimile
Author: H. P. Blavatsky (1831–1891)
Publication: 1895 · London
Format: Downloadable scanned PDF · 522 pages · English